The Declaration of Human Rights
Vivisection is a foul process in which everyone suffers. The animal suffers the most (physically and psychologically), but the human, I suppose, must lose their morality or at the very least their innocence. For how is it possible, for one to torture a live animal and then go out to meet and greet people with incredible manners as if they were a polite person. If someone can vivisect an animal then they have placed themselves outside the world of ethics and morality, so then if they behave one way with animals and then differently with humans is totally pretentious and hypocritical. Life is life, so we must treat all life forms equally! Either we discriminate against every life form (including ourselves) equally (or in some reasonable manner) or we don't discriminate against any life form. Humans, if considered as one whole entity, do discriminate against all. There are racists, sexists and speceisists just to name a few, but humans seemingly always sympathize with the discriminated. In the case of racism in the U.S., Whites now are sympathizing with Blacks for the suffering that Blacks suffered at the hands of the "superior" race. Men seemingly seem to be sympathizing with women, but this party that sympathizes with the discriminated side is a group of people that is separate from the people who discriminated. So clearly, if we come back to reality and view humanity as a community of individuals rather than a unique identity, then I believe we would realize that humanity as a whole has a long way to go!
Diversity!
We have a long way to go because we often times misidentify markers to ourselves and to our fellow peers. Take the case of Dave Baum (history professor at A&M). He believes that UT is the most confederate campus because of statues that have a link to the Confederacy (U.T. most confederate campus in the nation):
“A stroll past the statues shaded by live oaks along the South Mall of the University of Texas suggests that the university has a soft spot for the Confederacy. After all, four of the bronze figures were leaders of the Southern cause, including Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederate States, and Robert E. Lee, the chief general. Even the Littlefield Fountain, which anchors the South Mall and at first glance appears to be a generic war memorial, is a tribute to the Confederacy, as an inscription on a stone wall makes clear without actually mentioning slavery: "To the men and women of the Confederacy who fought with valor and suffered with fortitude that states rights be maintained.”
Clearly, the history professor is mistaken. The statues merely represent a portion of history that was trying for the nation, and the only truth in his argument is that there are statues on U.T.'s campus that have significant ties to the Confederacy, but since he's a history professor, I would think that there must be some sense of appreciation he holds towards one of the most trying times for the nation. For example, he interprets U.T.'s appreciation for the Confederacy's call to uphold State's rights as U.T.'s support for slavery. No logic to this argument. If U.T. was serious about slavery, then why would the campus put up the statue of Barbara Jordan and Martin Luther King Jr.? For one, it's arguable that these statues aren't near the South Mall, so Prof. Baum has a little lee-way there, but these statues are still there, and U.T. does has a diverse student body population. To judge the nature of a campus by the statues it chose to erect is also a bit naive. Surely somewhere in history Prof. Baum must have come across the phrase "Don't Judge a Book by it's cover." There is of course more than just one explanation for the 'Confederate' Statues. Perhaps these references could indicate a call by U.T. to its entire student population, or a reminder for students to stand up for their own individual values, beliefs and rights, otherwise you leave your story for someone else to write. These statues, in my view, represent significant moments in history, from the birth of the nation (Pres. Washington) to the Civil Rights Movements (MLK Jr.). Prof. Baum also notices 6 Niles Road (U.T. most confederate campus in the nation), but how did he miss the street that is named after Martin Luther King Jr. Perhaps he forgot to mention this, or perhaps he thought that the street bears no connection to U.T. Then I move that we consider the San Jacinto Residence Hall or perhaps the streets that are named after Hispanic Saints (San Jacinto and Guadalupe). Maybe Prof. Baum was judging a book by its cover, but the Aggie didn't even do that right! He missed (or chose to ignore) all of the other physical markers that U.T. has. Maybe he should take another look around campus and notice the etching on the Main Building... "Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall set ye free!"
Can't See The Words, but the Truth Shall Set YOU Free!
Prof. Baum sets an example for all of us. Let's not judge people by how they look because that is wrong and often-times (as in the case of Prof. Baum) it leads to misunderstandings. Let's move towards peace together as one being, but in doing so, we can't be inconsiderate to animals. We, the entire human race, is slowly begin to appreciate life in fashions that weren't possible in the olden days. We understand the workings and the science of nature with much more accuracy and precision than the olden days, yet we treat animals with such cruelty by forcing vivisection upon them and justifying it to ourselves as necessary. It would appear that humans consider ourselves as wise species or at least "the elite species on the planet" (Titus). But if we truly are the elite then shouldn't we be kind and merciful to species that aren't as fortunate, shouldn't we be fair in our treatment of them; we should, but we don't. There is no fair treatment of animals as long as we continue to justify vivisection to ourselves. J. R. R. Tolkien has worded my feelings best, “He who breaks a thing to find out what it is, has left the path of wisdom.” We are clearly not wise! But as I said earlier, the who doesn't matter, so I ask that you pay attention to what Tolkien has said and not his name (I imagine his name carries significant weight).
Shakespeare has some Great quotes!
And because the who is irrelevant, consider the following story of a saint and a scorpion ( http://www.sanatansociety.org/indian_epics_and_stories/the_saint_and_the_scorpion.htm ) and consider your own dharma or nature regarding animals, especially vivisection.
One day a saint was taking a bath in a river. His disciple sat on the bank with the saint's clothes, asana and rosary. The saint noticed a scorpion struggling in the current. Taking pity, he lifted the bedraggled scorpion in his palm and started wading toward the bank.
No sooner had the scorpion recovered than it promptly stung the saint on the palm. The saint felt an unbearable, burning pain shoot up his arm, but he did not drop the scorpion. Instead, he gently shook his hand to encourage the scorpion to move away from the wound.
The saint's disciple, watching from the bank, became alarmed, but did not say anything.
The saint had only taken a few more steps when the scorpion stung him again. A searing pain more intense than the first one went all the way up his arm and throbbed in his hand. The saint staggered and nearly collapsed in the river.
This time the disciple did call out. "Put him down, guruji! He will only sting you again. Leave him to his fate. Your kindness is of no value to such a creature. He will learn nothing from it!"
The saint ignored him and continued walking. He had nearly reached the bank when the scorpion stung him for a third time. The pain exploded into his head, lungs, and his heart. The disciple saw a blissful smile appear on the saint's face before he collapsed in to the river. The disciple dragged the saint to the shore, still smiling and still cradling the scorpion in his palm. As soon as they had reached shore, the scorpion crawled away as quickly as it could.
"Guruji!" said the disciple after the saint had regained consciousness. "How can you smile? That wretched creature nearly killed you."
"You are right, my son," said the saint. "But he was only following his dharma, his nature. It is the dharma of a scorpion to sting, and it is the dharma of a saint to save its' life. He is following his dharma and I am following mine. Everything is in its proper place. That is why I am so happy."
An Illustration of the Saint saving the Scorpion
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